One thing that can be said about welterweight prospect Dusty Hernandez-Harrison is boxing has always been part of his life. His father Buddy Harrison, a trainer and owner of a gym in Washington DC, likes to say “I started Dusty boxing before he could walk. I have pictures of him hitting the bags at age 4.” And 19-year-old Dusty will tell you, “boxing is my life, my passion. I can’t see myself doing anything else.”

Hernandez-Harrison (17-0, 10 KOs) turned pro in 2011 at age 16, after a stellar amateur career that saw him rack up a record of 173 victories in 200 amateur fights, winning national titles in his age group for seven consecutive years from 2004 to 2010 as well as the Summer Classics four times and the Silver Gloves twice.

Asked about his unusual hyphenated name, Dusty says “Well, my mom is from Puerto Rico so my Dad and I decided we would use both names. I am proud of my dual heritage.”

When asked to describe Dusty’s style, Dad/trainer Buddy considers that Dusty “is a kid that loves to brawl but is also a very effective counter-puncher.” Recently, the young man from DC entered the WBC rankings in the 40th spot. Dusty is now waiting to confirm what should be his biggest fight to date on the undercard of the Golovkin-Stevens HBO card in Madison Square Garden on November 2nd. Says father Buddy, “Dusty might be fighting for the WBC Youth title against another young prospect. Winning the WBC Youth title would mean a big jump in the rankings and we are excited at this opportunity.”

———————Robert Coster is an excellent judge of boxing talent. To date four young fighters from his “New Faces” series have gone on to win world titles (Tomoki Kameda, Evgeny Gradovich, Johan Perez and Nicholas Walters). Ruslan Provodnikov has an opportunity to make it five in a few weeks.